22 & 23 February 2025
So they say. But patience has never been my strongest trait.
Life in India moves at a very different rhythm, and nowhere is that more evident than here, in the heart of the desert. Even ‘African time,’ as we jokingly call it back home, has nothing on ‘Indian time.’ Here, urgency is an afterthought, and schedules are more like loose suggestions. Adjusting to this pace has been a challenge for someone like me, who thrives on movement and action.
We finally arrived back at Shri Jasnath yesterday. The first thing I did was take a long, hot shower and steal a quiet moment to myself. As much as I love travel, hostels, people, and cultural immersion, I sometimes need space to simply be—to recharge, to breathe, to process.
Ashram life is more laid-back than many other places in India. In a world that constantly urges us to maximize every second, this place feels like a surreal bubble of otherworldly stillness. The simplicity of life here is refreshing, yet it also raises a thought-provoking question: what if the entire world operated this way?
What if, instead of chasing the next big experience or business deal, we embraced a life centered around only what is necessary to sustain us? The reality we’ve built doesn’t allow for that—not in this age, not with the way we’ve conditioned ourselves to equate productivity with worth. And that conditioning has been deeply challenged this past week.
I’ve had to wait—patiently—for projects to be planned, schedules to be updated, and information to be sent out. In that waiting, my mind has been restless. When there’s nothing left to do, I find myself overthinking. Should I practice yoga longer? Meditate more? Study harder? Plan my future in finer detail? There is always a feeling that I should be doing more.
We all crave rest. We beg for it in the midst of our chaotic lives. And now, here I am, granted exactly that—precious, uninterrupted time to just be. Perhaps my task in this season is not to fill the space but to allow it to exist, to settle into it, and to finally accept the gift of slowing down. If we slow down and look around us, we may have a moment to laugh at the fact that a huge cow is nonchalantly chilling on the steps of a village shop, not bothered at all by the fact that the humans may want to pass to get a bag of chips. It’s funny how quickly one becomes used to the cows in the street and just as nonchalantly simply dodges them while taking a walk – a few of these sleepy looking animals really aren’t very friendly at all and more than one tourist has received an unexpected headbutt!
Perhaps the real challenge during my time at this ashram, in this tiny village—the true lesson here—is not in doing more. It is in surrendering. In sitting quietly. In embracing the stillness instead of filling it with restless energy.
